One of the things the Republicans have been able to do during the last few years is to contain potential scandals by releasing selective classified information, reclassifying previously public information, invoking the States Secrets privilege, failing to investigate, accusing the other side of doing the same things, blaming Bill Clinton, and deploying armies of talking heads and shill print reporters to muddy the waters. If they lose either house of Congress they will find that their tactics are much less effective.
Let’s just look at two examples from the current news cycle. In the first, there is a pissing match going on in the House Intelligence Committee. The Committee is chaired by Peter Hoekstra of Michigan. The Ranking Member is Jane Harman of California.
On Tuesday, Harman unilaterally released the executive summary of an independent investigator’s review into the actions of a jailed former congressman, Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-California. The report found that he abused his position on the committee to help ensure lucrative contracts went to associates, in exchange for bribes.
Hoekstra called Harman’s decision to release the document “disturbing and beyond the pale.”
Of course, Hoekstra offered no explanation for why the report should have remained secret. A Congressman that takes bribes, gets convicted, and goes to jail is not exactly a state secret. We all noticed. In any case, Hoekstra, perhaps in a fit of snit, has decided to go after one of Harman’s staffers.
Democrats say the Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee had no grounds to suspend a staff member who’s come under scrutiny for the leak of a secret intelligence assessment.
The unidentified staff member, a Democrat, was suspended this week by Chairman Peter Hoekstra and is being denied access to classified information pending the outcome of a review. In an interview on Friday, Hoekstra said the step was the least aggressive he could take while the committee investigates.
The Michigan Republican said the committee aide will be interviewed and other information will be collected. That could include correspondence, phone records and interviews with people who interacted with the aide. For now, Hoekstra said, he has not involved the FBI, which would normally handle investigations into leaks of classified material.
“We ought to be able to resolve this very, very quickly,” he said.
The secret intelligence estimate contained the information that the war in Iraq is making us less safe from the threat of terrorism. It pretty much put the nail in the coffin of Karl Rove’s election strategy. What’s worth remembering, though, is that such information would not have to be leaked at all if the Democrats controlled the Intelligence Committee.
The second example is coming from the Appropriations Committee. The chairman, Jerry Lewis of California, just fired 60 staff investigators who were charged with looking into fraud, waste, and abuse in our nations’ contracting system. It pays to remember:
Lewis is currently under federal investigation over corruption charges reportedly uncovered during the Duke Cunningham investigation. He has spent nearly $800,000 in legal fees since May.
We’re back to the Duke Cunningham investigation. And Jerry Lewis isn’t being honest about his decision to fire these investigators.
Lewis’ spokesman yesterday tried to portray the suspensions as part of a bipartisan review that occured with the support of the committee’s ranking member Rep. David Obey (D-WI):
Committee spokesman John Scofield said Thursday that the contracts were not renewed because the panel is conducting a “bipartisan review” of the unit’s staff.
“Frankly, the work we’ve been getting as of late has not been that good,” Scofield said. “There is nothing sinister going on.”
Scofield said the review has the backing of ranking Democratic House appropriator David R. Obey of Wisconsin.
But a press spokesman tells ThinkProgress that while the minority agreed there were problems with the investigative staff that had to be addressed, committee Democrats had not been consulted prior to the suspension of the investigators. The spokesman said that oversight of the Appropriations Committee, which manages Congress’ annual spending of $900 billion, has become an increasingly severe problem, and that Rep. Obey had been involved in a review to improve the effectiveness of the committee investigators. But, the spokesman said, the decision to stop all contract operations was made without consultation from committee Democrats.
These are just two examples of ways that the current Republican congress is able to minimize the fall-out from their own misdeeds and poor performance. Once they lose control of one house of Congress, their ability to play this game will be greatly diminished and the whole ‘house’ of cards will come crashing down in fairly rapid fashion.
